In Depth: Vaccine mutation, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties
LOS ANGELES - Segment One
Hal is joined by Workcare’s Associate Medical Director Dr. Anthony Harris. Doctor Harris discusses the new variations being found as the coronavirus mutates. Harris says those variations, known as "clades" are a normal process. The mutations so far have not been anything that would keep the vaccines from working.
Dr. Harris says that the new plan to vaccinate older people first, rather than particular occupations is a good plan to provide protection to the most vulnerable members of society.
Harris talks about some of the persistent effects for long-haulers, including brain fog and exhaustion. He says 1 out of 5 people will show ongoing symptoms after they are supposedly over COVID-19. These include ongoing lung damage and damage from coagulated blood vessels, which causes everything from stroke to erectile dysfunction.
Segment Two
The head of the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, Curt Hagman speaks to Hal about how his county is dealing with the pandemic and the different rules put in place to stem the spread of the disease.
Hagman says that even though the stay-at-home order has been lifted, they are aware that if people don’t keep taking precautions, everything could be shut down again, and that would do serious damage to the economy.
Hagman says his county actually sued the state over the regulations, saying that San Bernardino should not be judged on the same basis as all the other counties and that the regulations should not be "one size fits all."
He says that infection rates are going down, and the ICU’s have some openings, so there is some positivity. He urges residents not to gather and have Super Bowl parties to keep the rate of transmission of the virus down.
Segment Three
Hal speaks with Ventura County Public Health director Rigoberto Vargas. Vargas says that the county has been doing wastewater testing which has led to the discovery of a coronavirus variant in Ventura.
Vargas says they are dealing with challenges with the vaccine -- they just don’t have enough to vaccine those under 75 years old at present. He says they’re nowhere near able to achieve herd immunity unless they can vaccinate 70% of the population.
They only will make an appointment a week out for vaccinations, because they don’t know how many vaccines they will have from week to week.
Segment Four
Hal promotes his podcast and we close with video of our remembrance of Kobe Bryant, a year after his death.
Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.